Rapidlink Rides Are Free This Summer

The Riverside Transit Agency (RTA) is giving customers another reason to ride the bus this summer whenit offers free rides aboard RapidLink from July 1 through September 3. The express route provides weekday morning and afternoon service between Corona and UC Riverside along Magnolia and University avenues. The service departs every 15 minutes and is up to 30 percent faster than other buses along the same corridor.

Since it began last August, ridership aboard RapidLink has remained steady with roughly 2,500 riders a week and those numbers are expected to rise as more people learn about the route.

“There’s never been a better time to ride the bus,” said RTA Chair Art Welch. “RapidLink has been a godsend for so many customers looking for a faster way around town, and we think the free rides will help boost ridership to a whole new group of customers.”

RapidLink comes with its own brand of buses and stops and serves 14 locations, including stops at UC Riverside, Downtown Riverside, Riverside City College, Riverside Plaza, Galleria at Tyler and the Corona Transit Center. During the morning, buses depart UC Riverside and Corona Transit Center from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m., and afternoon buses depart from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. The 16 RapidLink buses, which carry up to 38 seated customers and 17 standees, continue RTA’s tradition of using clean-burning fuel, and offer amenities like free Wi-Fi and USB charging ports.

The free RapidLink rides are part of a much larger campaign to get people on the bus this summer. In June, RTA kicked off a promotion that lets students in grades 1-12 ride for just 25 cents all summer long. Plus, expanded “Beach Bus” service aboard Route 202 has begun with express trips every day from Murrieta and Temecula to Oceanside.

Welch said the RapidLink free rides have the potential to attract a whole new group of customers who are unaware of or on the fence about the new route.

“RapidLink is changing a lot of people’s minds about public transportation,” Welch said. “We are confident that new riders who try RapidLink this summer will be pleasantly surprised by the experience and want to return again and again.”

The general cost to ride RapidLink after the promotion is $1.50, the same as other RTA local bus routes, and all RTA passes are accepted as well as U-Pass, Go-Pass and City Pass programs.